Was grading a paper today and a phrase jumped out at me: “Knowledge alone…”.

How often has my framework been shaped by the belief that if I just know more I can do better, do different, be healed. It’s actually a very powerful statement made by our pride. And given it is often the flip side of shame, which always seems to minimize reality and deflect truth, pride fails to take into account the whole of our story.

Scripture addresses this all over the place: knowledge puffs up, love builds up; lean not on your own understanding; and so many more verses.

When we fail to acknowledge the weight of our wounds, the reality of the drives emerging from our naturally occurring biology, and the intensity of our very real emotional experiences, we fall into the trap of self-sufficiency. My own best thinking got me here; I need to find a solution that better connects me to my past, my body, and my Lord and less to my pride and shame. It’s definitional insanity: thinking I can think my way out of every situation and then blaming the situation when the busted solution doesn’t work.

May we be men of sound mind, yes, but also men connected to and honoring of the power of our stories, the good of our emotions, the gift of our bodies, and the God who loves us immensely as we walk this road of healing.